Check-row corn-planter



L t e e h S S t e e h S 2 H T m S R m d 0 M 0 m CHECK ROW CORN PLANTER.

P tented June 29, 1886.

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B. SMITH.

CHECK ROW CORN PLANTER. No. 344,550. Patented Jun 29, 1886.

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an inverted plan view of one of the check-row Ihvrrnn Starts ROBERTSMITH, OF LAFAYETTE, ILLINOIS. A

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CHECK-=ROW CORN-"PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 3441 550, dated June29, 11886.

Application filed February 27, 1886. Serial No. 193,502. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT SMITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lafayette, in the county of Ogle and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Check-Row Gorn-Planters, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being hadto theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates to an improvement in check-row corn-planters; andit consists in the peculiar construction and combination of parts, thatwill be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a check-row corn-planterembodying my improvements. Fig. 2is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 8is a detailed vertical sectional View taken on the line :0 x of Fig. 1.Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view. Fig. 5 is attachments. Fig. 6 is afront elevation of one of the check-row attachments, partly in section,showing the pulley V in its normal horizontal position in solid lines,and tilted to a vertical position in dotted lines to release thecheck-line.

A represents an axle, on the ends of which are mounted thesupportingwvhecls B. Parallel arms 0 are secured to the axle on oppositesides of the center thereof and extend forwardly therefrom.

D represents a=transverse beam, which is provided on its rear side withbracket-arms E, to which the front ends of the arms 0 are hinged orpivoted, and to the center of the said beam D is secured atongue, F,having the rear extended end,which approaches the axle. On the outerends of the beam D are secured seed-hoppers G, and from the lower rearsides of the said hoppers depend seed-spouts H. A crossbar, I, has itscenter secured to the tongue in front of the transverse beam D, the saidbar being arranged parallel thereto, and to the outer end of thedraft-bar are attached the front ends of furrow openers or runners K,the rear ends of which are attached to the lower ends of theseed-spouts.

L represents a bracket,which is secured on the upper side of the axle,near the center thereof, and on the said bracket is formed a segmentalrack, L, to which is fulcruined a footlever, M. The front end of thelever M is connected to the rear end of the tongue by means of a link,N, and to the said lever M is pivoted a hand-lever, O, which is providedwith a gravity-pawl, O, that engages with the rack-teeth, and therebyserves to lock the hand-lever thereto at any desired position. By meansof the lever M and the hand-lever 0 it will be readily understood thatthe rear end of the tongue may be raised or lowered at will, thusthrowing the weight of the frame and the planting mechanism on thesupporting-wheels, and thus causing the runners or furrow-openers to runin the ground at any desired depth, and thereby regulate the depth atwhich the seeds are planted.

In the bottom of each seed-hopper G is made an opening that communicateswith the upper end of the seed-spout, and to one side of each hopper issecured a horizontal bracket-arm, I, in which, and in the circularrecess which is made in the bottom of the hopper, at the center thereof,is journaled a vertical shaft, It, carrying a rotating seed-disk, It,which works on the bottom of the hopper. The seed-disk is provided witha series of openings, R", which are arranged to pass successively overthe opening in the bottom of the hopper as the shafts R are rotated.

Plates S, having central circular opening S, are arranged on the upperside of the rotating seed-disks and form false bottoms for the hoppers,and the rear side of the said plates are provided with brackets S, inwhich are journaled blocks S", that bear on the upper sides of theseed-disks, at the rear sides thereof, and serve as stirrers for theseed in the hoppers,to prevent the seed from becoming lodged thereinrNear the upper end of each vertical shaft R is loosely pivoted ahorizontal sweep-arm, T, which bears upon the bracl ct-arm I, and on theupper end of each shaft It is secured a fixed ratchet-wheel T. The outerends of the sweep-arms are provided with pivoted pawls T, which areadapted to engage with the ratchet-wheels T, and haveoutwardly-extending arms T.

V represents bracket-arms, which extend outwardly from the outer sidesof the seedhoppers. The front end of each of the arms V has aforwardly-projecting spindle, V, on which is hinged a collar, V havingon its inner side the depending hook V and on its upper side aprojecting spindle, V, on which is journaled a horizontal pulley, V Thepulley is thus provided with the horizontallypivoted bearings, by meansof which the pulley may be moved on its bearings from avertical to ahorizontal position. On the under side of each bracket-arm V isfulcrumed a lever,W, the front end of which engages with the dependinghook V being held normally in engagement therewith by means of a spring,\V. The front end of each arm V has also a vertical stud, V, on which isjournaled a horizontal pulley, V. Near the rear end of each arm V isjournaled a vertical pulley, V and at the extreme rear end of each arm Vis journaled a similar pulley, V. An opening, V is made in the outerside of each of the arms V at the rear ends thereof, and between thepulleys V and V". V

X represents sweep-levers, that are pivoted on the bracket-arms V, andhave the outer bifurcated arms, X, and the arms X extendingsubstantially at right angles to the arms X. These arms are connected tothe extended arms T of the pawls T by means of the connecting rods orpitmen Y, and the pivotal inner ends of the said pitmen are connectedtogether by means of a transverse connectingrod, Z. Springs a areconnected to the seedhoppers, and to the outer ends of the pitmen Y, anddraw rearwardly upon the latter, so as to keep the sweep arms X normallyin the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 1.

In the lower ends of the seed-spouts are pivoted flirt-valves b, and thesaid seed-spouts are also provided with pivoted arms 0, which on gagewith the said flirt-valves so as to operate them. These arms 0 areconnected by a transverse rod, d. A bracket, 6, is secured on the tongueF and projects laterally slightly beyond one side thereof, and to thesaid bracket is fulcrumed alever-rod,f, one end of which engages withthe transverse rod Z, and the other engages with the transverse rod 07.

9 represents a foot-lever, which is fulcru med to the tongue F, near therear end thereof,and this foot-lever is connected by means of cords h tothe rear ends of the spring-actuated latching-levers WV, the said cordsbeing guided by suitable'pulleys, t, which are journaled on the frame.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The usual check-line isstretched across the field to be planted and anchored at both ends, andthe line is passed between the pulleys at the front end of one of thearms V, through the bifurcated end of the leverX thereon, over thepulley V, and under the pulley V at the rear end of the bracket-arm V.The machine is then drawn along by the team parallel with thecheck-line. When a button or knot on the check-line encounters the outerend of the lever X, the said lever is moved rearwardly to the positionshown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, which causes the pawls on the outerends of the sweep-arms to engage with the ratchet wheels T, and therebycauses the seed-disks to partly rotate and drop a few seeds from theseed-hopper into the seed-spouts. As the button or knot slips out fromthe end of the lever X, the springs a return the levers to their normalposition, thus imparting a reverse movement to the sweep-arms T, causingthe connecting-rod Z to move the lever-rod f, which moves the valvesb inthe seed-spouts, causing them to drop the seedsinto the ground. Theoperation is repeated by each succeeding knot or button on thecheck-line until the field has been crossed.

When turning the machine at the end of a row, or when it is desired todisengage the machine from the check-line for any purpose, the driver,who is seated on a seat, k, supported on the axle, moves the foot-leverg, and thereby draws upon the cords 71., causing them to draw inwardlyupon the rear ends of the latching levers W, which move the front endsthereof out of engagement with the depending hook V, thus releasing thepulley V and cansing the latter, by the lateral pressure of thecheck-line to move to a horizontal position, as shown, and therebyrelease the check-line from the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, with acorn-planter, of the bracket-arms V, having the forwardlyprojectingspindles V, the collars V hinged thereon and having the depending hooksV on their inner sides and the projecting spindles V on their uppersides, the pulleys V journaled on the said spindles, and thespringactuated arms or levers W on the under side of the bracket-armsand engaging the hooks V the bracket-arms also having the guidepulleysfor the check-lines, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a checkrow cornplanter, of the levers X, actuatedby the checkline, and springs a, for imparting retrograde movement tothe levers X, the rotating seeddisks having the sweep-arms T, theratchetwheels T, and the pawls pivoted to the sweeparms and engagingwith the ratchet-teeth, and the pitmen connecting the said pawls, therod Z, connecting the pawls, the check-valves in the seed spouts,andhaving the arms connected by the rod d, and the fulcrumed lever-rodf, connecting the said rod d with the rod Z, for the purpose set forth,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT SMITH.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL F. MILLs,

JonN M. BURNHAM.

